Aldeneik Abbey (Dutch : Klooster van Aldeneik) is a former Benedictine abbey in Aldeneik, currently a mainly residential parish of Maaseik, in the province of Limburg in eastern Belgium. It was founded in 728. The Benedictine nuns were replaced by canons in the 10th century. In the 16th century the canons moved to nearby Maaseik, and Aldeneik was abandoned.
According to the vita of Harlindis and Relindis (written around 860), these two sisters in 720 founded a monastery along the river Meuse, on territory belonging to their father Adelard. With the support of Willibrord of Utrecht, the abbey was officially established, adhering to the rule of Saint Benedict, and the two sisters became abbesses. The abbey was probably destroyed by Viking raids in the 9th century. A century later it was given to Richer, Bishop of Liège, who in 952 made it a religious chapter with 12 canons. Under the leadership of their abbot they continued to live, work and pray in Aldeneik for more than six centuries.
In 1571, during the wars following the Protestant Reformation, the canons - with their treasure - took refuge in the nearby town of Maaseik. Here, the predecessor of the church of Saint Catherine became the chapter's private church. The canons sold their property in Aldeneik in order to buy houses in Maaseik where they continued to live peacefully for another 240 years. After the arrival of the French revolutionary troops in 1793, the chapter was dissolved in 1797. The church fell into disrepair and was demolished. In 1840-45 the current Neoclassical church was built, but the chapter was never restored.
At the original abbey location in Aldeneik only the heavily-restored former abbey church remains, which still serves as a parish church and is now dedicated to Saint Anne (Church of Saint Anne, Aldeneik). Nothing of the cloisters, nor the later chapter house or canon's houses have been preserved.
The treasure of the abbey, preserved in the church of Saint Catherine in Maaseik, is presented in a small museum located in the crypt of the church. The main treasure is a manuscript of the early 8th century, the Codex Eyckensis , considered to be the oldest book in Belgium. An important collection of medieval textiles consists of a garment said to have belonged to Saint Relindis and Anglo-Saxon liturgical embroidery dating from the 8th or 9th century. Several other relics of the abbey founders, Harlindis and Relindis, have survived in the treasury. Other important pieces in the collection are reliquaries (some dating back to the 9th century), liturgical vessels made of gold and silver, paraments, and ancient manuscripts.
Maaseik is a town and municipality in the Belgian province of Limburg. Both in size as in population, it is the 8th largest municipality in Limburg. The town is the seat of the administrative arrondissement of Maaseik (kieskanton). Internationally, Maaseik is known as the assumed birthplace of the famous Flemish painters Jan and Hubert van Eyck.
Saint Martial, called "the Apostle of the Gauls" or "the Apostle of Aquitaine", was the first bishop of Limoges. His feast day is June 30.
Saint Winifred was a Welsh virgin martyr of the 7th century. Her cult was celebrated as early as the 8th century, but became popular in England in the 12th, when her biography (vita) was first written down.
Saint Faith or Saint Faith of Conques is a saint who is said to have been a girl or young woman of Agen in Aquitaine. Her legend recounts how she was arrested during persecution of Christians by the Roman Empire and refused to make pagan sacrifices even under torture. Saint Faith was tortured to death with a red-hot brazier. Her death is sometimes said to have occurred in the year 287 or 290, sometimes in the large-scale persecution under Diocletian beginning in 303. She is listed as Sainte Foy, "Virgin and Martyr", in the martyrologies.
Mosan art is a regional style of art from the valley of the Meuse in present-day Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. Although in a broader sense the term applies to art from this region from all periods, it generally refers to Romanesque art, with Mosan Romanesque architecture, stone carving, metalwork, enamelling and manuscript illumination reaching a high level of development during the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries.
Benediktbeuern Abbey is a monastery of the Salesians of Don Bosco, originally a monastery of the Benedictine Order, in Benediktbeuern in Bavaria, near the Kochelsee, 64 km south-south-west of Munich. It is the home of the Songs from Beuern, i.e., the famous Carmina Burana.
Saint Herlindis, sister of Saint Relindis, was a Frankish saint and abbess.
Saint Relindis, sister of Saint Herlindis, was the daughter of count Adelard who built a Benedictine monastery at Maaseik for his daughters. Herlindis was abbess of the abbey until her death, after which Relindis was named to succeed her by Saint Boniface.
St. Georgenberg Abbey is a Benedictine monastery, the oldest extant monastery in the Tyrol, founded in 1138 but from 1708 to 2019 removed to the nearby city of Fiecht in the community of Vomp in Tyrol, Austria. In 2019 the monks returned to a restored abbey at St. Georgenberg, which had remained a place of pilgrimage and spiritual retreat.
The Abbey of Saint-Victor is a former abbey that was founded during the late Roman period in Marseille in the south of France, named after the local soldier saint and martyr, Victor of Marseilles.
St. Ulrich's and St. Afra's Abbey, Augsburg is a former Benedictine abbey dedicated to Saint Ulrich and Saint Afra in the south of the old city in Augsburg, Bavaria.
Helmarshausen Abbey was a Benedictine monastery situated in the small town of Helmarshausen, now part of Bad Karlshafen in Hesse, Germany.
Munsterbilzen Abbey was an abbey of Benedictine nuns in Munsterbilzen, Limburg, Belgium, founded in around 670 by Saint Landrada. It was plundered by Vikings in 881 but restored. From the 9th century it was dedicated to Saint Amor.
The Church of Saint Anne is a partly Romanesque, partly Gothic church in Aldeneik, Belgium.
The eighth-century Codex Eyckensis is a Gospel Book based on two constituent manuscripts that were bound as a single codex from (presumably) the twelfth century until 1988. The Codex Eyckensis is the oldest book in Belgium. Since the eighth century it has been kept and preserved on the territory of the present-day municipality of Maaseik, in Belgium. The book was probably produced in the scriptorium in the Abbey of Echternach. It is housed in the church of St Catherine in Maaseik.
The Princely Abbey of Stavelot-Malmedy, also Principality of Stavelot-Malmedy, was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire. Princely power was exercised by the Benedictine abbot of the imperial double monastery of Stavelot and Malmedy, founded in 651. Along with the Duchy of Bouillon and the Prince-Bishopric of Liège, it was one of only three principalities of the Southern Netherlands that were never part of the Spanish Netherlands, which belonged to the Burgundian Circle while the principalities belonged to the Lower Rhenish Imperial Circle.
The Basilica of Our Lady is a Romanesque church in the historic center of Maastricht, Netherlands. The church is dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption and is a Roman Catholic parish church in the Diocese of Roermond. The church is often referred to as the Star of the Sea, after the church's main devotion, Our Lady, Star of the Sea.
The Treasury of the Basilica of Saint Servatius is a museum of religious art and artifacts inside the Basilica of Saint Servatius in Maastricht, Netherlands.
The English Benedictine Reform or Monastic Reform of the English church in the late tenth century was a religious and intellectual movement in the later Anglo-Saxon period. In the mid-tenth century almost all monasteries were staffed by secular clergy, who were often married. The reformers sought to replace them with celibate contemplative monks following the Rule of Saint Benedict. The movement was inspired by Continental monastic reforms, and the leading figures were Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, Æthelwold, Bishop of Winchester, and Oswald, Archbishop of York.
The Trier Cathedral Treasury is a museum of Christian art and medieval art in Trier, Germany. The museum is owned by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Trier and is located inside the Cathedral of Trier. It contains some of the church's most valuable relics, reliquaries, liturgical vessels, ivories, manuscripts and other artistic objects. The history of the Trier church treasure goes back at least 800 years. In spite of heavy losses during the period of the Coalition Wars, it is one of the richest cathedral treasuries in Germany. With the cathedral it forms part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.